Protecting Species Stories

Two years ago this month, China took the monumental step of banning elephant ivory trade within the country. Dec. 31, 2017 was the last day it was legal to buy or sell ivory there.

Wildlife Insights is a one-of-a-kind cloud-based platform housing the largest publicly accessible database of camera trap images in the world. It allows researchers and conservation organizations around the world to share and analyze wildlife data to ultimately better anticipate threats, understand where and why wildlife populations are changing, and take action to protect wildlife.

More than 200,000 acres of a transboundary territory for tigers, leopards, and other species have been established in the Russian Far East as a new protected area.

Governments from around the world recently gathered to discuss the threat of wildlife trade on species.

Singapore takes an important step in protecting species from illegal wildlife trade.

Rescued after sustaining serious injuries to his nose and face from would-be poachers, Saikhan the “miracle tiger” has been released back into the forests of the Russian Far East.

In Thailand, women like Kwan remain a rarity. But neither this nor the voices alleging that women aren’t suited for the ranger lifestyle – which comprises long working hours in spartan and sometimes dangerous conditions, away from loved ones – have prevented her from living her truth.

The tiny Bolivian town of Versalles, nestled along the Iténez River, is home to one of the largest river turtle hatcheries in the Amazon. Community efforts have helped to increase turtle numbers, but the species remains vulnerable to threats far beyond the community’s control.

Four greater one-horned rhinos are adjusting to a new home in India’s Dudhwa National Park after they were successfully translocated from one part of the park to another during a five-day period in April.

WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP) has been working with passion, commitment, and determination for a brighter future for the critically endangered black rhino for more than a decade. BRREP works to grow black rhino numbers by creating new populations and provides equipment and training to rangers to monitor, manage, and protect rhinos.

Perhaps most rewarding part of Brandon Davis' career as an animal trainer and conservation ambassador has been educating people about animals and getting them excited about wildlife conservation.

Even as so many species faced both new and ongoing challenges, WWF tackled those threats head-on

Amid a dire poaching crisis, wild Asian elephants in Myanmar received swift and essential aid from thousands of WWF supporters committed to protecting this iconic species. More than 3,000 people donated $263,211 in less than four weeks to fund an emergency action plan to train rangers and get boots on the ground to fight wildlife crime.

In early March, nearly 2,500 people donated a total of $256,512 to extend bison habitat at the park from 57,640 acres to 80,193 acres. This will allow the park to achieve and sustain a herd of more than 1,000 bison, and will allow more park visitors to see and learn about the United States’ National mammal.

WWF’s African Elephant Program funded a research project that used techniques from economics and statistics to better understand the value of elephant conservation to local economies in Africa.

Snow leopards scale the great, steep slopes of mountains in Central Asia with ease, blending into the landscape. But these endangered cats face many threats including habitat loss, reduced prey and retaliatory killings. WWF works to reduce human-leopard conflict and protect the fragile snow leopard habitat.

WWF's groundbreaking program to reintroduce Persian leopards to the Caucasus, where the cats were once abundant.

On June 2, 2016, the US Fish & Wildlife Service announced new federal regulations implementing a nearly complete ban on commercial ivory trade in the United States.

One of the best tools we have for fighting the illegal wildlife trade that threatens many of the world’s most endangered species is CITES—the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Camera traps in China have captured images and video footage of giant pandas that are often difficult to see in the wild. The photographs and video are some of the most amazing images ever of pandas and other species in their remote habitat, which were caught on film as part of long-term wildlife monitoring projects set up in panda nature reserves by the Chinese government and WWF.

Amur leopards can run at speeds of up to 37 miles per hour. Learn more about Amur leopards and the work WWF is doing to protect them. 

For the first time in a century, the number of tigers living in the wild is going up